Which Chiller is most Sanitary?

[aarong]

I am in the market for a chiller.

I usually need to chill around 10 gallons of wort. I use a keggle as my boil kettle and brew all grain. I don't have a pump but am planning on buying one. I live in Ann Arbor, MI so my ground water is cold in the winter and around 65 in the summer.

Parameters(in order of preference):
1) Sanitary! I want to put a lid on my kettle at flame out and have a closed system into my fermenter. ( I will most likely use a pump) To prevent anything from falling in as I brew in my garage.
2) Chill in under 10 minutes
2) Be able to clean thoroughly. I am not worried if it takes a few more minutes but I want to make sure it is extremely clean.

Thanks for your help!

Aaron

 

[ncsuwerewolf]

Immersion chiller and pump your groundwater through it. Draw back is you have to have the wort moving as well to make it as efficient as possible.

 

[aarong]

I am a fan of immersion as I can keep cold break in the kettle, and I can see how clean it is(low cleaning times). My concern is keeping the kettle lid on during chilling. I can always cut a section of the lid off....

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I think your going to get a lot of "this is what I use and never had a problem" responses. I use an IC and give it a rinse in the shower to get the dust off then a quick spray of star san for good luck

 

[wantonsoup]

If you want to put a lid on it and have a truly closed system, that leaves you with two choices, plate chiller or counterflow. If you moderate your wort flow rate (slower is better so it's in contact with the cold longer) either work great. Both are used by zillions of brewers, large and small, both are sanitary, and it's really your choice which you prefer. Plate chillers don't always require but often do need a pump to make them work well, counterflow can work by gravity alone if you've got a good height differential.

To clean either, promptly run clean water through them after use.